Motor starting after not using for a while

[aya16]

Bill save your self some money get a manual and take the float bowls off and spray it with gum out up inside the carb.

your mech. is wrong about having to run the engines every few months.
the motor could sit for a long time if proper prep is done like run the engine with the fuel line disconected till it stalls after you use it for the last time in the season.

you can also buy a gas treatment that will stabalize the gas so it doesnt go bad.

running the engine every few months would help but you would have to use fresh gas everytime.

Is it worth a hundred dollars an hour to learn how to do it yourself?
Its not a big job and when your done, and if you ever have the problem again you could do it in your sleep.

after its fixed and your done for the season again run the gas out like I said above and spray wd40 into the carbs as it starting to stall. Next season it will fire right up. The wd40 will run the engine for some time as long as you keep spraying. Wear goggles and a hat when you do this, dont want to lose your eyebrows if it back fires.

[Craig LaForce]

The bulbs and hoses are only good for about 2 years in my experience. Also check the entire fuel system that there is not an air leak into any of the connections. Even the fitting at the top of the fuel tank can leak. Mine did.

If the bulb never gets hard, the carbs are probably plugged up with either gunky fuel or just little bits of junk. I pulled all three carbs last year, the marina had a carb washer and cleaned them up like new for ~$100.

Also bought new fuel hoses at an auto parts store, and tempo primer bulbs.
THe marine hose kits have really poor quality hoses and are priced like they were made of gold. Also bought a larger aluminum inline fuel filter at the auto store.

Motor starts instantly now and runs perfect. By the way, my carbs had about a teaspoon of what looked like really fine sand in the bowls. No idea what it was.

In retrospect, I think next time I will install an electric fuel pump and mount on the spashwell. Getting tired of replacing those stupid rubber bulbs so often, plus standing on my head to start the motor each time is getting old.

[ronacarme]

sounds like the last 3 years with my ex- 2000 Evinrude 9.9 4 stroke, which was winterized by the dealer every fall, and had a carb rebuild in 2 of the last 3 springs. Gasoline station owners and distributers, other boat dealers and web searching suggest that my problem and maybe yours is that the gasoline blends now marketed are less stable while the carbs on our new , fuel efficient, smaller (<70 hp) 4 stroke OB motors have smaller, more easily gummed up, fuel valve passages than yesterday's fuel wasting 2 strokes or bigger OB's or inboard gas engines.
Advice I received since spring is....
1. Avoid ethanol oxygenated gasoline ( may be difficult...e.g. Michigan no longer requires station pumps to post ethanol content in gasoline if less than 10%) ... Ask the station owner or marina manager and their supplier re ethanol content...Major oil company brand gasolines may be more consistent in content over time than independents
2. After using the OB, disconnect fuel hose from it and drain or run dry its fuel system (like I used to do on my old 2 stroke OB's)
3. Assume a marine fuel stabilizer added to the gas tank is not effective for more than 30 days (and hence will not protect over the winter)
4. If the fuel in the tank 30 days old, dispose of it ( I transfer it to the tank in my car) and replace it with fresh from the gas pump at the gas station or marina fuel dock
5. The marina fuel dock charges more for gas than the station down the road, but supplies and hopefully continues to satisfy a much higher proportion of OB owners
6.The gasoline consumer most at risk from stale ethanol gasoline blends is the sailboat auxiliary OB....it runs briefly and infreqently and burns little fuel over a long time span and from a small tank vented to the atmosphere...just the opposite of the owner's automobile
7. Per one boat dealer, the number of carb cleanings he does is skyrocketing , and he expects the problem to get worse as ethanol doped gasolines become more common and the % ethanol increases

Aggravating to put such time and effort into fueling an OB? Yes, but less trouble than being stranded by a gummed up motor.... or wasting weeks waiting for dealer backlog, diagnosis, parts, repair and attack on your wallet.

Good luck.

Ron

[Bill ( My Pleasure)]

Thanks to all for the wonderful responses to my question. I've already commited to having the dealer do the work on the carburators. There are 4 of them. It might be a good idea for me to learn how to do it myself. I do have a repair manual. It maybe a bit more complicated than some might expect. I have done some work on cars, but I felt it wiser for me to let the professionals do this job. The carburators have to be removed 4 at a time. I don't believe that the float bowls are accessable without taking out all 4 carbs. As Clint Eastwood once said "A man has got to know his limitations." The engines appear to need more care and careful feeding than I realized especially with new gas mixtures. Unrelated thought'''I was charged for 5 quarts of Castrol Synthetic when my car only holds 3.5 quarts by a local lube-joint. The deal was the regular oil change was a certain price for 5 quarts of ordinary oil. My question was who determined that the 1.5 quarts of oil they DID NOT PUT IN MY CAR were synthetic. Then on the windshield sticker they said they put in Castro-blend. I complained to the company and got a full refund. 99% of the time I change my own oil. Thanks again!!!! Bill

[Bill ( My Pleasure)]

I did not ask for the long term storage maintenance. I had them replace the impeller , adjust the valves(they were OK without adjustment), replace filters and fluids.